I've Had My Moments
by Belphegor
Summary: A series of 25 one-word-based vignettes; mostly Peter and Neal, with cameos from Elizabeth, Mozzie and June. No slash.


Author's note: This is my first foray into the _White Collar_ fandom, and my first real try at fanfiction in months and months :o) But I hope it's not too shabby. It's un-beta-ed so far, and written in British English (which means pesky extra "u" and "l" as in "colour" and "dishevelled") which is not my first language … But I love these characters so much it actually gave me the metaphorical kick in the rear I needed to get back on the horse/to writing.

Anyway. I took fifty words at random from prompt tables (these are the first twenty-five – I'm working on the rest) and the title from a Django Reinhardt song. Hope you like :o)

_Disclaimer: the characters and two of the situations (referencing Out of the Box and Vital Signs, respectively) belong to USA Network. The rest … no, actually, there is no rest :o)_

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><p><strong>I've Had My Moments<strong>_**  
><strong>_

_**1. Home**_

One of the things Neal likes most about June is that she manages to make him feel like an esteemed guest and almost like a member of the family – this despite his actually having pretty much nothing of his own and half-paying his room and board by helping out occasionally.

_**2. Secure **_

Neal can't figure out when the unnatural weight at his ankle has shifted from "prison lite" to just annoying hindrance in his mind.

_**3. Amazing **_

"Yes, Neal, I concede the point. Now can I have my car keys back?"

"Okay." He doesn't even have the grace to look apologetic – what's worse, the big grin doesn't slip one bit as he hands Peter the keys. "Here you go."

"… As well as my wallet, phone and two pens I usually keep in my pocket?"

"Hey, you're getting better at this!"

_How does he do it?_

_**4. Pretend **_

"Okay, let's pretend for a minute I'm an international art thief …"

"Yes. _Let's_."

_**5. Music**_

Neal wears her dear Byron's suits with with Frank Sinatra's rakish elegance and Dean Martin's laid-back grace, but the music June hears when she sees him is Ella Fitzgerald – light, smooth, full of warmth and laughter; but there's an underlying sadness, a gravity that sometimes surfaces behind the carefree sparkle of his eyes.

_**6. Paternal**_

It's when Peter gets this particular look in his eyes at the typical Neal Caffrey antics, part-annoyed, part-amused, with the twinkle that shows he's finding the situation entirely too funny and _knows_ it, that Elizabeth knows he would make an excellent father.

_**7. Coffee **_

June's Italian roast is arguably the best damn coffee he ever tasted, and sometimes Peter will drive to Riverside Drive to pick up Neal five or ten minutes early just to enjoy a cup.

_**8. Saint **_

Neal can act innocent better than a lot of people, and he knows it; and Peter has found out a long time ago that the more angelic he looks, the more dangerous he is.

_**9. Almost **(Pre-series)_

"That was entirely too close this time, Neal. Those little games you play with the Suits – like what happened last time in Florida! They almost got you then, too!"

"They didn't, though, Moz, did they?"

_**10. Sloshed **_

"Y'know, for a conman, embezzler, art thief …"

"Alleged."

"Sure … And money-launderer, smuggler, forger …"

"Hey, I was only convicted for that last one! The rest is just vil – vilf – slander."

"… You're all right."

"You're not so bad yourself." _Beat_. "Say, exactly how many of these did we drink?"

_**11. Pain**_

"It's not your fault he's in there, Peter."

"It is. Of course it is. El, I'm responsible for him – doesn't only mean I have to make sure he won't cut his tracker and run. He's not an agent, he doesn't have training, he doesn't have a gun … and he still puts his life on the line. For us. Whatever happens to him … If he … I'm responsible."

"He's strong, honey. He'll pull through."

"Yeah. I … He probably will, but … El, I can't lose him. Not now. Not after everything."

"I know."

_**12. Journal/Diary **_

"So you want me to believe you never kept track of your cons? Never wrote anything down?"

"Wouldn't it have been a little conspicuous if you'd found a little notebook with things like, 'Dear Diary, Paris is great, today I visited the Louvre, saw the Mona Lisa and forged a Titian'?"

"_Did_ you ever forge a Titian?"

"That's … neither here nor there."

_**13. Tragedy **(Tag to Out of the Box)_

Some of the longest minutes of Peter's life were spent sitting at the back of an ambulance, shoulder to shoulder with a dishevelled, wild-eyed, frighteningly silent Neal, who kept his eyes glued to the wreck of a plane as he shivered under a blanket. The flames had subsided a little while ago when the firefighters finally won the battle, but they still burned in a pair of blue eyes that looked otherwise dead.

_**14. Maternal**_

"Neal?"

Neal opened one bleary eye and realised with a start that he'd fallen asleep on the couch. When he opened the other, he spotted Peter fast asleep, the file with the details of the case they were working on still in his hands and Satchmo's head on his lap. Someone was snoring softly, and whether it was the man or the dog Neal had no idea.

Elizabeth was smiling at him.

"The guest room is ready."

"Oh, I wouldn't want to impose …"

"Nonsense. You look dead on your feet. Come on, up you go – first door on the right after the stairs."

"Thanks, Elizabeth."

_**15. Reason**_

"Mozzie, Paul McCartney did _not_ die in a road accident in '66 – and for God's sake, why would the American government keep his cryogenised corpse? !"

"Hah! An answer truly worthy of a Suit."

_**16. Truth** (Tag to Vital Signs)_

"So, basically, I just talked a lot? I didn't do anything stupid?"

"Talked and _sung_. But yes, you did talk a lot."

"I hope I didn't say anything maudlin. Did I make a fool of myself?"

"Oh, I wouldn't say that."

_**17. Messy**_

Neal reveres the clothes he inherited from June's husband; he always wear these old-fashioned hats at a jaunty angle, with such complete defiance toward the latest hypes that he ends up looking insanely trendy in a roundabout way, and his suits are always impeccable.

Which is why Peter's first clue that something is wrong with him is when he spots small creases in Neal's jacket. The dulled look in his eyes and white and taut face only come second.

_**18. Games **(Pre-series)_

"The bathroom is clear, boss. He's not hiding anywhere."

"I know." Peter ran a hand through his hair, the only outward sign of frustration he allowed himself in front of the newest Ivy Leaguer Hughes had sent to cut his teeth on the Infamous Neal Caffrey case. "We must've missed him by … I'd say three, maybe four hours."

Sure enough, Caffrey had left nothing incriminating – nothing to tie him to anything the FBI wanted to pin on him for the last couple of years. He'd been playing this game long enough by now to know the rules.

As Peter rummaged through the few superfluous belongings the conman had left behind, something fell out of a paperback.

It was a lovely pressed carnation. Last time El had gotten an orchid.

The book was Frank Abagnale Jr.'s _Catch Me If You Can_.

Peter pocketed both flower and book with a smile.

_**19. Water **_

"It's not water. It's the Hudson."

"Which would be a _river_, Neal. There's generally some water in these."

"Yeah. And most of the rest is pollution, bacteria, dirt, silt, mud … We'll be lucky if we only get a cold."

"At least we got _him_."

"Oh, sure. You almost drowned, I swallowed about my weight in what you call 'water', but at least our suspect is alive. I guess it would've been unprofessional to let him drown and save yourself."

"Neal?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

_**20. Foreign**_

"Oh, ne faites pas attention à mon ami, il est marié et très amoureux de sa femme. Vous pouvez toujours essayer, mais …"

"What the hell did you say to these girls? Dammit, Neal, you know I don't speak French!"

_**21. Romantic**_

"Honey, this restaurant is amazing, the band plays divinely, and I'm not even talking about the exquisite dress … It's one of the most perfect birthdays I've had."

"I'm glad you like it, dear. Happy birthday."

"Thank you. …It was an idea of Neal's, wasn't it?"

"…Yep."

_**22. Noon **_

"Oh, no – not that devilled ham again."

Neal started looking around the car for a sandwich shop – a hot dog stand – anything he could buy food from while remaining inconspicuous and not on a stakeout at all. Peter's grin widened as he fished something wrapped in tin foil from the cooler.

"Relax. _Those_ are for you. And you can thank El next time you see her."

There was ham, cucumber and goat cheese in Neal's sandwiches.

After one bite, he made a mental note to indeed thank Elizabeth. This was way better than devilled ham.

_**23. Fall **_

Pulling off a con is, to Neal, a lot like walking a tight rope. You can start with the most careful preparation and the best conditions, it only takes one second – a faltering voice, a shifty look – and the ground catches up with you. Back in the day, Kate and Mozzie helped, but on the whole, Neal Caffrey worked without a net.

He doesn't often admit it, most of all to himself, but it is rather reassuring to know he has a partner now who can catch him if he does fall.

_**24. Tales**_

"Oh, yes, Venice was spectacular. The Doge's Palace, the Academy, the Ca' d'Oro …"

"Is that when you copied and robbed that little Francesco Guardi landscape Keating was trying to fence off last year?"

"I'm not even gratifying that with an answer."

_**25. Soul**_

Peter has always known, deep down, that Neal Caffrey was fundamentally a good soul. He keeps hoping that, some day, he'll finally be an honest one.

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><p>The French sentence in #20 (<em>Foreign<em>) means, "Don't pay attention to/don't mind my friend, he's married and very much in love with his wife. You can always try, but …" ;o)

Also, what's funny is that, for the moment, I've only seen the first 11 episodes of the first season, and I wrote the snippets based on what I saw/the spoilers I've read; so when I cheated and watched _Company Man_ online yesterday, I felt vindicated having written #19 (_Water_). Because Peter's suspects do not die if he can help it. I love that :o)

Hope you liked!


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